The police then believe I was followed home, which is how they got my address.

As for the call: well, credit where it's due, it's pretty clever. If you call a landline it's up to you to end the call. If the other person, the person who receives the call, puts down the receiver, it doesn't hang up, meaning that when I attempted to hang up to go and find my bank card, the fraudster was still on the other end, waiting for me to pick up the phone and call "the bank". As I did this, he played a dial tone down the line, and then a ring tone, making me think it was a normal call.

Same scam has been in other articles before. Might have even been on here before.

If the bank calls me they'll leave a message on the answer phone. I don't call back, but call the number on the back of the card, regardless, and usually from a different phone. Bank will never want the cards returned, but instruct you to destroy them.

As for the call: well, credit where it's due, it's pretty clever. If you call a landline it's up to you to end the call. If the other person, the person who receives the call, puts down the receiver, it doesn't hang up, meaning that when I attempted to hang up to go and find my bank card, the fraudster was still on the other end, waiting for me to pick up the phone and call "the bank". As I did this, he played a dial tone down the line, and then a ring tone, making me think it was a normal call.

That doesn't make any sense, the person at the other end can't block you from hanging up.

That doesn't make any sense, the person at the other end can't block you from hanging up.

No, they're relying on you hanging up.

First they ring you. Tell you about the 'fraud', tell you to ring your bank, then say goodbye and you hang up. They stay on the line, which holds it open; on a land line, only the person making the call can actually hang up and terminate it.

You then pick up the phone, hear the recorded dial-tone the fraudster is playing down the line, and start dialling. The fraudster then "rings" and "answers," but they've been there all along.

You then pick up the phone, hear the recorded dial-tone the fraudster is playing down the line, and start dialling. The fraudster then "rings" and "answers," but they've been there all along.

Given the general state of panic you'd be in when they call you to tell you your card has been defrauded, I can see how easily it will work.

When I was phoned to say my card had been cloned I was checking all my online accounts within minutes to see if anything else had been done. Luckily it was just the one CC and John Lewis picked it up and phoned me.

I bet the same person has had problems with a virus on their computer but luckily MS rang them after spotting it. I'm not sure why when they said "We're sending someone to get your cards" they didn't think hold on there's something not right here why would they want them.

It's easy to go "well, how stupid" but the thing is, these people are getting far more professional and efficient all the time. There's things there which really should have rang alarm bells (entering your PIN into the phone is a real WTF moment) but in the heat of the moment and after just being told you're several thousand pounds down, it's not hard to see how some people would just panic.

The problem really is this,

I like to think I'm a tech-savvy, culturally aware person

I'm sure many, many people think this also. Overconfidence plays right into criminals' hands.

Two weeks ago, i misplaced my wallet. Panic, cancel cards.
A few days later first replacement card arrived. Two weeks later, no sign of second card so I call card provider. no, not only have they not sent out replacement they haven't even stopped the potentially stolen card.
If this is the level of security, how hard can fraud be?

Experienced similar levels of security by my bank^^
ATM stole my card the night before my 1st every salary was paid in, cos overdraft was on the agreement that salary was paid in to that account. Bank sent replacement card in a NatWest branded envelope to my old address, and sent the PIN in a NatWest branded envelope to my old house. Both via normal mail, no signature required. Pillocks.